This is part 1 in my Home Based Entrepreneur Health Series.
I wasn't really sure I was going to write this post, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I need to.

For the past few years I've felt very sick - like I was on a downward spiral towards losing my mind, but physically. There were a few major reasons why I wanted to start a business from home, and a few reasons I HAD to. The feeling sick thing was one of the reasons why I had. I rarely missed a day of work in my corporate career and it was normally only when my little one was sick and I had to stay home. For me to miss work for any other reason it was usually due to having the flu or some other contagious thing. In my mind a day off meant no pay ( I worked 37 hours a week, no benefits at my last job until the last month or so ) or just having to admit I wasn't on top of my health.

So being able to start my business and work more in tune with my body and mind, was essential. I wanted to sleep the right amount of time, eat better, get out more and just give my whole self the break it needed from 15 years of working non-stop for someone else. The not feeling good thing was something I had hoped working from home would fix. Now, four years in, I've been feeling worse than I've ever felt. List of symptoms include:

Loss of hearing in one ear, loud ringing in the other

Psoriasis on my scalp, ear and bridge of nose. I treated this with dandruff shampoo for years and had no idea that was what it was. I just thought I was an unlucky person who had peeling skin everywhere. Even on days when I had painful welts on my head, I just blew it off as normal.

Depression that never seemed related to any situation.

Anxiety and inability to handle stress.

I caught every cold or virus that came across my space. This was something that has never happened to me in the past. I blamed this on Papaya attending child care with other kids. Getting the ole immune system back up to par.

Heart palpitations.

Weird sleep habits that I was unable to control. Like wanting to sleep 24 hours, but of course couldn't.

Feeling very very exhausted all of the time. I mean every waking moment. This one scared me the most as I felt like I was dying. My bones and joints ached. Several of my toes were in pain daily like they were broken. (don't worry it wasn't my shoes, I wear the most comfy shoes ever ).

Muscle issues including weakness in my left arm that I laughed off as being a repercussion of working on my laptop constantly.

Concentration or focus issues. Having to adjust to working in spurts before I'd get a headache.

Hypertension

Bladder issues.

Severe sensitivity to cool things like water and cold weather.

All of these things popped within the last few years and while I did discuss them with my doctors, I never did so at the same time. Dealing with all of these things on top of life, really made me feel like I was losing it. How was I supposed to run a business and care for myself and my family if I felt this crappy? Well, I just made it happen, that's how. I won't say things didn't suffer, because they did, but I really just tried to hold it all together and not run us into the ground.

It wasn't until the Paramedic graduated that I really had some time to put all of this together. I went to an amazing health practitioner who listened to all of my complaints. She set me up for a ton of blood work and called me the next day. One of my test results was in and she needed me to take care of it right away. What was the issue? Well I can tell you it was something super easy to check for and I can't believe it took me this long to really find out I needed to fix it.